


Real World Responsibility

by Pigzxo



Series: Wyndolliday Raises A Baby [1]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Babysitting, Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Multi, mentions of past Doc/Wyatt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-13 08:08:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11755614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pigzxo/pseuds/Pigzxo
Summary: Doc gets asked to take care of his daughter, Alice, alone for the first time. Feeling nervous at the prospect, he asks Dolls to help him out.First part in a planned series about Wyndolliday raising the Wyndoc baby!





	Real World Responsibility

**Author's Note:**

> In honour of the finale, the baby's name has been changed to her real name <3

Doc waited for the others to file out of the station before stepping back towards Dolls’ office and knocking on the open door. Dolls looked up with a suspicious expression which Doc hoped he could ebb with a brilliant smile.

            No such luck. The smile only served to make Dolls more suspicious as he flourished his signature over a piece of paper and said, “What do you need, Doc?”

            “I, uh...” Doc stepped into the office and looked around at the bare space. He knew government super soldiers were probably trained to keep a bare space, look like a clean slate, but he couldn’t imagine anyone like Dolls having nothing he wanted to hang on the walls or keep on his desk. He trailed his fingers over the edge of the desk, as if looking for secret compartments filled with pictures, and then met Dolls’ impatient gaze again. “I was wondering if I could ask you for a favour.”

            “What kind of favour?”

            “Waverly has, uh, requested that I take tonight’s shift with little Alice.” Doc bit his bottom lip and hoped he wouldn’t have to continue. Unfortunately, even if Dolls probably got his drift, he had the poker face of a government super soldier. Doc chuckled. “And while I am more than happy to babysit my beautiful baby girl, there is, uh, one small issue.”

            “Would that issue be that it’s not babysitting when it’s your kid?”

            “That issue,” Doc said, trying and failing to keep the bite out of his voice, “would be that I do not believe myself to be capable of keeping such a small, sweet thing alive for hours on end.” He swallowed the last of his pride and met Dolls’ eyes with his best, most friendly and patient expression. “And I would like your help to do so.”

            Dolls tapped his pen against the desk for a moment and then looked back at the papers in front of him. “No.”

            “Dolls!” Doc grabbed the paper out from under Dolls’ pen, causing him to streak ink down the page. Over Dolls’ sigh, Doc said, “This is not about you or me or whatever may or may not be going on with us and Wynonna. This is about a child. And you wouldn’t want to punish a _child_ because of the idiotic pissing contest between us, would you?”

            The edges of Dolls’ lips tilted up but he did his best to keep his tired, long-suffering expression in place. He held out a hand for the paper. “You’re hundreds of years old. I think you can figure out how to take care of a baby.”

            “And the last time I was around a baby, I was one.” Doc sighed and dropped into the chair across from Dolls. He placed the paper on the desk. “Please. The ladies are all out on this hunting mission, hence me being put down on the schedule alone. I’ve never been with Alice without Wynonna or Waverly around. And they’re always adjusting my grip and giving me advice and I really don’t want to mess up my little girl. Not now. Not yet. Not when she’s still small and precious.”

            Dolls’ sigh was slightly less exasperated now. His dark eyes looked up at Doc and Doc did his best to look pleading, helpless. It wasn’t an expression he could say he’d mastered. He usually hid his desperation, his need for help. But he couldn’t hide it now, not when his daughter needed things he knew he couldn’t provide, couldn’t hope to do right.

            “I’m sure you know more than you think.” Dolls flipped a stack of paper over and reached for the next pile. “Nobody knows what they’re doing when they have a child. Everyone screws up. You’re not going to irreparably damage her in a few hours.”

            “Please.”

            “Do you see all this paperwork, Doc? This has to be finished, tonight.”

            “Bring it with you.” On a whim, Doc reached across the desk and put his hands over Dolls’. Dolls’ eyes flickered to their touching fingers and then up to Doc’s face. “I’ll give you anything,” Doc said. “Anything at all.”

            “Even the credit?”

            “What?”

            “Will you give me the credit for taking care of Alice?”

            Doc opened his mouth, found he didn’t know how to get around that particular request, and shut it quickly. He pulled back and said, “Well. That is certainly an _interesting_ request but you see—”

            “You want Wynonna to think you’re a great father.” Dolls chuckled and shook his head. “You want her to believe you know exactly what you’re doing which is why you didn’t just tell her or Waverly that you’re uncomfortable being alone with your own child.”

            “Dolls—”

            Dolls held up a hand to silence him, the ghost of his laughter a wide smile across his lips. “God, Doc. Really?”

            “She’s my child, Dolls. My own flesh and blood. I want the opportunity to spend more time with her, to get to know her, to make sure she knows that I am her father.” Doc swallowed hard. “I have spent my whole life thinking I would never have a child. And now that she is here and she is beautiful, I have to confess that I do not know how to take care of her. And it breaks my heart.

            “Dolls, I am from a different generation of men. If I had a child back in my day, that child would have been none of my concern. I most likely would not have spoken more than three or four words to them before they reached adulthood. This is not that time anymore.” Doc wanted to reach for Dolls’ hand again, wanted to hold him steady, wanted Dolls to hold him steady. Instead, he took a shaky breath and let it out like a laugh. “I have an opportunity to know Alice and I wish to take it. But that does not mean I am unafraid. And I am asking you to help me overcome that fear so that my daughter, _Wynonna’s_ daughter, can have a father in her life who loves her unconditionally.”

            Dolls held his eyes for a long moment, his face betraying nothing. Then, like a damn bursting, he sighed and said, “Fine. I’ll help. Just text me when you want me to come.”

            Doc tilted his hat to hide his smile and vacated the office.

 

“The bottles are in the fridge, but you have to heat them up before you feed her,” Waverly said as Nicole helped her into her jacket. “But not too hot! You need to test them on your wrist to get the temperature right. And she won’t sleep without her blue blankie, don’t even try if you can’t find it. And, oh! The diapers are in the cupboard above the microwave. I know it’s disgusting, but it was the best place for them and—”

            “Waverly.” Wynonna placed a hand on her sister’s shoulder. She smiled at Doc and said, “I’m sure Doc is more than capable of reading your laminated instructions if he needs anything.”

            “Which are on the coffee table!” Waverly exclaimed as Wynonna pushed her out the door.

            Wynonna sighed and faced Doc. Doc smiled at her but let his eyes dip to the baby resting against her shoulder. Alice was so much smaller than all of them had been expecting, so much sweeter. She barely cried and while that made Wynonna happy at night, it panicked Waverly throughout the day as she periodically checked to make sure the little girl was still breathing.

            “You sure you’re ready for this, pops?” Wynonna said.

            “Of course,” Doc said. “I love my little girl.”

            “Well, if you get into any trouble, don’t hesitate to call.” Wynonna carefully transferred Alice into his arms and adjusted his hand so it was right under her soft head. The tiny hairs on her head tickled his palm and Doc found himself getting lost in her bright blue eyes as Wynonna continued, “I probably won’t answer – busting demon ass and all – but keep me updated.”

            “I will.” Doc watched as Wynonna leaned down to kiss Alice’s head and then he pulled the baby closer to his chest. Her small heat felt like an extra heartbeat to him and he wondered how for so many months Wynonna could have carried her without finding love for her. But he knew Wynonna had been scared, like he was scared now, and that the love had grown with each passing day. “And Wynonna,” he said as she opened the door. Wynonna turned to him, her eyes flickering between him and the baby. “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her.”

            Wynonna smiled and then was gone into the night.

            Doc took a deep breath and settled down on the couch. Carefully shifting Alice to one arm, he got out his phone and texted Dolls that they had left. Then he looked down at his little girl and said, “Uncle Dolls is gonna come hang out with us for a while. Yeah. You know Uncle Dolls. He’s a good guy.”

            Doc sat there staring down at his gurgling daughter for a long time while waiting for Dolls. On the inside, he was praying that she wouldn’t cry until Dolls showed up. When he realized that would be a miracle, he started to shift through Waverly’s laminated, colour-coordinated notes on when to do what, how to do what, and why what he was doing was helpful. He laughed to himself, at once grateful and embarrassed for her.

            Twenty minutes passed without any major disasters. Alice started to squirm and cry, but he’d been warned she’d need to be burped soon. So he placed her against his shoulder and gently patted her back, whispering soothing words that meant nothing to her and promises she wouldn’t know he’d made. He still wished he could keep all of them, keep her safe, make sure no one ever used her against Wynonna or himself.

            The doorbell rang and shocked Alice from an almost-sleep with a cry. Doc cursed under his breath and scooped her up into his arms again as he went for the door. When he opened it, he said, “You woke her up.”

            “Oh, so you’re fine here, then?” Dolls said. He gestured over his shoulder at his truck. “Because I can just go on home, leave you to do this alone.”

            “Come in,” Doc grumbled, stepping out of the way.

            Dolls entered, shut the door, and then looked down at Alice. “Hey, there, Annie,” he cooed. He tickled her stomach as he stepped closer, the cold of the outdoors clinging to him and making her whine under his touch.

            Doc sighed and stepped back. “You’re freezing,” he said. He pulled his daughter closer to himself. “Take off your coat. Sit by the fire. Or you’ll be useless all night.”

            Dolls chuckled but did as he was told. As Doc paced the living room behind him, trying to rock Alice back to sleep with no luck, Dolls said, “Leave you alone with her for a couple of minutes and suddenly you’re all protective father mode? No more fears?”

            “Plenty of fears,” Doc corrected. “Just no fears I can afford to give into.”

            Dolls looked over his shoulder and smiled at him. “It’s cute. Seeing you all cuddly.”

            Doc glared at him and resisted the urge to flip him off. Shifting his grip unnecessarily could set Alice off all over again. Her soft gurgles soon turned to sighs and Doc checked the clock. He could let her sleep for a bit, surely, since she wasn’t due to be fed for another hour. But Waverly had told him not to wake her up. And not to miss a feeding. He wasn’t sure which rule was more important.

            “Here.” Dolls stood and offered his arms to Doc. “Your arms must be getting tired.”

            Doc narrowed his eyes at him.

            “Come on. I’m all warm now.” And when Doc still didn’t stop glaring, Dolls asked, “What kind of proof do you need?”

            “Come here.”

            Dolls stepped forward, his sigh deflating his shoulders, and crowded into Doc’s space. Alice curled warmly between them, nothing in her expression or her actions betraying that she still found Dolls cold. Doc couldn’t say he found him cold either and perhaps he hesitated a moment too long before looking up, before nodding and carefully handing over his daughter, and then stepping back to let Dolls cradle her in his huge arms.

            “Don’t crush her,” Doc said, feeling bitterness rise in his throat at how easily Dolls adjusted his grip, found the right places to support her.

            Dolls chuckled, the warm, rumbling sound causing Alice to giggle.

            Doc watched the ease with which Dolls wandered through the living room with her in his arms. He listened to the gentleness of Dolls’ voice, his softened breathing. When Dolls finally set Alice down in her crib, she was fast asleep and almost still.

            Dolls stepped back like she was a live bomb, slipping his fingers out from under her with the utmost care. Then he backed up until he walked right into Doc and smiled his apology, his entire face alight with wonder. Doc couldn’t help the twist in his stomach, the unnatural jealousy, the things he didn’t want to feel around Dolls.

            They walked into the kitchen, sure to bring the baby monitor with them even though she was only a room away. Doc sat at the table while Dolls rummaged through the fridge. Eyes fixed on Dolls’ back, Doc said, “How often do you do that?”

            “Do what?”

            “Rock her to sleep.” Doc hated the catch in his voice and quickly looked down so he wouldn’t have to see the expression on Dolls’ face. “Take care of her. How often are you on the schedule?”

            Dolls settled into the chair across from him with a Coke bottle and shrugged. “Every once in a while. No more than you are.”

            Doc looked up, hoping his expression was hidden by the brim of his hat, by his bushy eyebrows. “But you’re good with her,” he said. “The ladies, they don’t... fuss when you hold her.”

            “They’re still plenty fussy.” Dolls kicked his ankle under the table. “Hey. I’m no more a part of Annie’s life than you are.”

            “Alice,” Doc corrected. And then, with a sudden burst of all the fury and fluttery emotions in the pit of his stomach, he added, “You should be less of a part of her life. You’re not her father. I am. I’m her father. And I don’t want her calling you daddy when that should be me.”

            Dolls stiffened, his hand freezing on the neck of the Coke bottle. He shifted his jaw. “Is that really how you feel? You don’t want me to be a part of your daughter’s life?” He paused for long enough for Doc to respond but Doc didn’t know the words, didn’t know what he was supposed to say, so Dolls continued, “Because Wynonna, Alice’s mother, very much wants me to be a part of her daughter’s life. And given that the two of you aren’t married or engaged or even currently _dating_ , I don’t think you have a right to tell her who can and cannot be around her daughter. In fact, I’m in full support of her not letting _you_ be around your daughter.”

            Doc blinked. “What did you just say?”

            “You think this is some coincidence?” Dolls said. “You think suddenly everyone is busy and no one else can be here? That no one else could have been called in? This isn’t the first time they’ve been out hunting at night, Doc. But it is the first time they asked you to babysit.”

            “Because they don’t trust me.”

            “And I vouched for you,” Dolls said. “I told them to give you a chance. That you could handle this. But maybe I was wrong.”

            Doc clenched his jaw and said nothing. His hands had curled into fists under the table but taking a swing at Dolls wouldn’t prove anything, wouldn’t fix anything. He felt tears boiling behind his eyes but did his best to swallow them back, to fight the feeling, to stomp on every emotion he’d ever been told was not okay for him to express.

            “No one thinks you’re gonna be a good father, Doc.” Dolls leaned over the table, his voice going low and threatening. “They don’t think you’re gonna be around in a year or five or for her graduation. They think you’ll blow in and out of here like some TV ex-husband who only wants to teach the kid the bad things about life. Like abandonment and betrayal and how to steal a car.”

            “I would never—”

            “Never? Your track record with Earps isn’t exactly stellar.”

            “Don’t you dare bring Wyatt into this,” Doc hissed, all too aware he couldn’t start shouting, not when his daughter was asleep in the next room.

            Dolls’ lips tilted up in a smirk. “I told them they were wrong,” he said. “I told them you would never, ever abandon your little girl. But I’m starting to think I was wrong. I’m starting to think you’re gonna run the _second_ the responsibility gets to be a little too much for you.”

            Doc shook his head, his whole body shaking.

            “I came here to help you out. To make sure you weren’t gonna fuck this up. And you’re just sitting there attacking me—”

            “I’m attacking you?” Doc let out a bitter laugh. “What do you call everything you’ve been saying?”

            Dolls sighed and licked his lips. “I’m just trying to figure out who you really are. What you really want.”

            “Haven’t I proven that to you by now?”

            “You’re a good guy, Doc.” Dolls took a sip of his drink and then twirled the bottle against the table. “You’ve helped us. You’ve proven yourself trustworthy. Now I just want to make sure that you’re here to stay. That you’re not gonna run off and make a deal with another devil when things get tough. I want to make sure you’re not gonna hurt Wynonna again. I want to make sure you’re _never_ going to hurt Alice.”

            Doc took a deep, unsteady breath and forced himself to meet Dolls’ eyes. He was still shaking with rage, with sadness, with emotions he couldn’t name, but he steadied his voice. “I would never hurt my little girl and I would never abandon her.” He swallowed hard. “And if you think, even for a second, that I would, than you don’t know me at all.”

            Dolls’ eyes moved back and forth, searching him. “And Wyatt?”

            “What about him?”

            “How do I know you’re not gonna pull some shit like you did with Wyatt and end up hurting us all?”

            “I loved Wyatt,” Doc whispered, his voice failing him as it trembled over the words. “I loved that man. And I did what I did in order _not_ to hurt him. So he wouldn’t watch me die. So he wouldn’t have to lose his best friend. So don’t you dare, don’t you fucking dare, tell me that what I did was a betrayal. I know I hurt him. I know I lost him forever. But I did it because I loved him more than anything else in the world.”

            Dolls’ expression had softened and all but fell apart. He hesitated. Then he stopped fidgeting with the bottle, let his hands fall off the table, and looked Doc in the eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know.”

            In that moment, Doc felt raw and exposed. He knew by the look in Dolls’ eyes, by the softness in the way he sat back, that Doc had let more slip than he’d meant to. He hadn’t just reassured Dolls that he was there for the Earps, that he didn’t betray his friends. He had told Dolls the truth in a roundabout way. The truth he had hidden even from himself.

            Thankfully, before Doc could be forced to speak into the lingering silence, Alice started to cry. He pushed back from the table and said, “Waverly’s schedule says it’s time to feed her.”

            “I’ll get a bottle ready,” Dolls said.

            Doc didn’t know whether to take that as a slight against his abilities or a peace offering. He preferred the latter so he put his worries out of his mind as he approached the crib. “Shh, shh,” he murmured as he scooped up his little girl. “It’s all right, Alice. I’m here. I’m here.”

            He walked her back to the kitchen where Dolls was testing a bottle against his wrist. He frowned so Doc asked, “How’s the temperature?”

            “I think it’s a little cold but I’m afraid if I put it in, it’ll be too hot.”

            Doc offered his own wrist and Dolls squirted a few drops there. Doc said, “Just a few seconds.” He let himself smile. “It’ll be fine.”

            They waited for the microwave, tested the milk again, and then Doc brought the bottle to his daughter’s lips. She batted the bottle away, crying in earnest now, and Doc shot Dolls a slightly panicked look.

            “Hey, hey, Annie, it’s okay,” Dolls said, the worry in his voice slightly undermining his soothing words. He brushed a hand over Alice’s head and took the bottle from Doc. “It’s just milk. Just like mommy gives you. Okay? All right? Everything’s fine.”

            She batted away the bottle again.

            “Is she always like this?” Doc asked.

            Dolls shook his head. “No idea.”

            Doc hummed and started to rock Alice gently. Her crying waned slightly as Dolls tickled his fingers over her stomach. Gently, he rested the bottle against her chest and guided her hands up to it. Her tiny fingers scrambled against the plastic and Doc tilted it up for her. Little lips latched onto the bottle and Doc laughed lightly as he looked up at Dolls who had an identical smile on his face.

            “Crisis averted,” Dolls said.

            “Good to know she already wants to be self-sufficient.”

            “She takes after her mother.”

            Doc snorted as he watched her drink. Dolls was still very close, his hand on Alice’s head. Doc found he liked the closeness, the support, the comfort. His heart no longer felt like lead to have Dolls so close to his daughter and he wondered what damn had broken, what words had changed that. Was it knowing that Dolls thought he deserved a chance? Was it knowing Dolls was the only one who supported him? Or was it something different, something that had burst with his confession about Wyatt, something that had made him stop thinking of Dolls as the enemy?

            Soon, she had finished eating and was happy to go back to gurgling. Doc handed her off to Dolls to burp her and settled down on the sofa to rub his sleepy eyes. It had barely been over an hour and already he felt the fatigue Wynonna must have felt twenty-four/seven. He watched Dolls as he held Alice, his lips moving around words too soft for Doc to hear, but Doc thought maybe he was singing.

            Doc didn’t resent Wynonna needing Dolls, not in the least. He needed Dolls too. Alice needed Dolls if she was going to get through this stage of her tiny, delicate life. With just him and Wynonna around, she’d be broken in seconds. With Dolls around – with Waverly and Nicole – she would be safe and happy.

            After a while, Dolls set her back in the crib and sat down with Doc. He shot him a sideways glance and said nothing.

            Doc took his hand. He squeezed his fingers. He didn’t know what to say.

 

The door opening woke Doc from his slumber. He saw, blurrily, a figure leaning over Alice’s crib and had a moment of panic before he realized it was Wynonna. She was sweaty from the fight and a little bloody, but she kissed the top of Alice’s head and held her close. She was crying.

            “Wynonna,” Doc said, soft.

            She turned to him, sniffed, and tried to wipe the tears away.

            “Come here,” he said. He patted the empty spot next to him, the spot not occupied by a snoring Dolls. The weight of Dolls’ head on his shoulder was awkward and unfamiliar, but ultimately welcome.

            Wynonna walked over and sat down, Alice still curled in her arms. Doc reached an arm around Wynonna and pulled her close. She smelled like smoke and demon guts, like sweat and something grosser. Doc kissed the top of her head all the same.

            “You called Dolls?” she whispered.

            “I needed the help.” Doc carded his fingers through her curls as he looked down at their little girl. “I get it. I do. He’s better at this than I am.”

            “Doc...”

            “No. It’s true.” Doc sighed and forced a tired smile. “You need him. I get it.”

            “I need you too.” She looked up at him with bright blue eyes and let out a shaky breath. “You’re her father and girls need their fathers. I mean, I didn’t have one and look at what a mess I am.” She let out a weak laugh. “Dolls can’t replace you, you know. I don’t want him to.”

            Doc spared a glance at Dolls’ sleeping form and shook his head. “He wouldn’t replace me. He has a place all of his own in her heart, in yours.” Doc almost said _in mine_ but he stopped himself as he saw the curiosity in Wynonna’s eyes. “Wynonna, I don’t want to be so far from this anymore. I don’t want to be a part-time father.”

            “What are you saying?”

            “Let me move in and help out.” He continued quickly before she could protest, “I’ll sleep on the couch, if you want. I just want to be here for you and Alice. I want us to be a family.”

            Wynonna hesitated – just a hitch in her breath – but then she nodded and curled closer to Doc. The heat of her under his arm felt right, steady, like yet another heartbeat he wanted to take care of.

            “You can move in tomorrow.”


End file.
